Big Brother
by Moon Prynces
Summary: A six year old Shikamaru won't play with a girl, namely Ino. So Chouji tricks him into playing big brother instead. And this action can only be taken with the literalness that little kids possess, making Shikamaru prove he is most definitely worthy.


11-10-06

1:42pm

Summary–A six year old Shikamaru won't play with a girl, namely Ino. So Chouji tricks him into playing big brother instead. And this action can only be taken with the literalness that little kids possess, making Shikamaru prove he is most definitely worthy.

**Disclaimer–I do not own Naruto, which belongs to its respective owner(s) and is only being used in a fan-made, fictional story.**

**xoxo**

**Title–Big Brother**

**By–Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A very young boy sat up lazily from his place on the bed he was currently occupying. He sighed upon hearing his mother yell up the stairs to him.

"Show some respect, and get down here before I get your father involved in this!" she tried to threaten him, but he knew that there was probably a smile on her face.

He snorted at the empty threat, because his father never really cared to discipline him at all. He mumbled something before getting off the bed and putting on another shirt as he left the room.

"Shikamaru, honestly," his mother started with an exasperated look. She leaned the spoon she had just pulled out of a drawer against her head. "Kids your age should be outside, running around and playing. And all you want to do is sleep. You should go out and play with the other kids and maybe make some friends," she said, turning back around to stir something in a pot.

The identified boy, Shikamaru, just 'hm'ed to himself before sitting down at the kitchen table. "Are you making lunch yet?" he questioned, gazing around the room disinterestedly.

His mother turned around looking defiant. "Oh no, you're not getting any food from me if all you want to do is waste away your day in your room. Now go to the park and try to have fun with some kids your own age!" She shooed him out the door of the house.

He sighed as he was abruptly shuffled outside and had the door close on his behind. "Man...this is dumb," he complained to himself, stuffing his hands in his pockets and began his walk to the park.

It wasn't as though he didn't have _any _friends at all. There was Chouji. But he wondered if his usual playmate would even be there at this time of day.

Upon his arrival, Shikamaru was met with the sight of at least a dozen or so kids running around, playing on the swings, and various jungle gyms. He did however spot his future teammate sitting on a bench looking bored.

He walked over and greeted Chouji. "Yo," was his simple statement.

Chouji looked up. "Shikamaru!" he said excitedly, jumping off the bench. "It's so good you're here! I've had nothing to do because I don't know any of the other kids so I just sat down and watched them," he said with a slightly sad tone before picking up again.

Shikamaru nodded, lazily glancing around, putting his hands behind his head. "So what do you wanna do?"

"How about we play ninja?" Chouji asked, still as excited as before.

Shikamaru only shrugged, and the other boy took this as a yes. They trailed their way to another part of the park with less people and more trees. It was only fitting that if they played ninja it would be in a setting where ninjas from their village were known.

They were separated by at least ten feet, Chouji taking up a typical fighting stance while his friend stood there looking around in a bored manner.

"I'll beat you this time for sure!" Chouji proclaimed, knowing his friend's lax attitude had nothing to do with his fighting ability and brilliant mind.

Just as he started running towards his opponent, a clever maneuver in mind, a small head poked out from one of the tree branches. The face of a curious little girl hung upside down in front of Chouji, causing him to slide to a stop just before hitting her.

She stared blankly at Chouji for a moment, then swiftly pulled her head back up and jumped out, landing on her feet.

"You guys look so stupid," she stated simply, turning around to observe the both of them from a distance. "Who _plays _ninja?" she snickered.

Shikamaru only glanced her way once before yawning. Chouji gazed at her oddly. Her short blonde her and fierce expression made her seem less feminine than what she really was; _a girl_. And so he said as much.

"What!" she screeched at them. "I am one of the best looking girls you will ever find!" she shouted haughtily.

For the first time that day Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something, what would later on become his trademark phrase. "So troublesome..." he muttered to himself, not bothering to pay attention now that they had been interrupted with no sign of relief.

The little blonde turned her blue eyes to him viciously. "What did you say?" she asked angrily.

Shikamaru yawned again, stretching his arms before peaking open an eye to look at her. "The only reason you're bothering us is because you want to join in, isn't it?" he asked dully.

She blinked at him, staring blankly and her anger suddenly gone. Then her expression vanished and she was back to being overconfident. "Fine, I will! Since you asked," she added, putting her small arms on her hips, and then stating proudly, "I'll show you two how it's really done. And my name is Yamanaka Ino."

Chouji looked skeptical at first, but it was replaced with excitement. "Okay! The more people, the better it should be. I'm Akimichi Chouji." Then, looking over to his friend who seemed to have dozed off a little while standing, he continued, "And that's Nara Shikamaru."

Ino smiled wickedly to herself. "Let's just get started then."

"Wait! Maybe you shouldn't be by yourself," Chouji declared.

The blonde gaped at him. "Why?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

"You are just a girl," he said slyly.

"I don't need any help in beating you to a pulp!" she shouted, stomping her way over.

He raised his hands in alarm. "You can be with Shikamaru then! He probably won't move a muscle anyway – it'll be the same as being by yourself," he explained abruptly.

Although it didn't calm her down, Ino was curious and stopped walking towards him. "Why? What's his problem?"

"I'm not playing with her," a voice interrupted. Both looked up to see Shikamaru crossing his arms and looking less passive than usual.

The young girl glared at him. "What's wrong with being a girl this time?" she asked, looking as fed up as Shikamaru's mother had earlier.

"Too many things," he stated.

"Are you an only child? And how old are you anyway?" she questioned him, without apparent reason.

"I'm six. And so what if I'm an only child?" he threw back at her.

"Well I bet if you had a sister you wouldn't be so ignorant!" the Yamanaka said, trying to throw a big word in his face.

"Ignorant of what? How troublesome and full of nonsense all you girls are?"

Chouji stared as the two argued, very confused about why his friend didn't want to play with Ino. Then he came up with something he was sure would solve their problems. "Hey, why don't we just pretend that you two _are_ brother and sister?" he asked, looking pleased with his idea. "She is right Shikamaru, if you had a sister you wouldn't mind playing with girls, so you can just pretend she is your sister from now on."

The genius stared at his friend for a moment, wondering how he could come up with such an absurd idea. But he didn't have to contemplate it for long.

"Who would want him as a brother anyway?" Ino said, folding her own arms and looking away snobbishly.

Chouji smiled happily. "See! You even act like it! Real brothers and sisters fight all the time! It should be easy!"

The other two looked at him oddly, realizing how true it was even though neither had a real sibling to experience it with. Then they glanced at each other with calculating looks.

"Fine," they both said carelessly.

"Good!" Chouji said before vanishing before their eyes and hiding somewhere around them. He had already begun their ninja match.

Ino glanced Shikamaru's way. "So who's the older one then?" she asked, trying to mimic his bored expression.

He turned to her, arms still crossed in front of his chest and not worrying about Chouji. "Huh?" was his vague reply.

The small girl sighed, finally releasing her own arms and letting them hang at her sides. "Who's going to be the older sibling?" she asked again.

He shrugged. "How should I know? Why don't you just be it since you care so much?"

"That's not how it works! It depends on who's older so...when were you born?"

"September twenty-second," he replied, giving her a dull look to match his dry voice form hearing her dumb questions.

She glared. "Well, I'm September twenty-third," she mumbled, looking around. "I guess that makes you my older brother then." Her voice came out annoyed, until she brightened up. "Well that's fine then! I've never had a brother anyway so–"

She was cut off when he shushed her, listening for the sound he heard coming from somewhere nearby. Maybe Chouji was taking this game seriously because Ino was there. That is, Shikamaru assumed that to be true. But what him and Ino would never know is how the Akimichi boy was sitting behind a bush (which would be a very easy place for Shikamaru to find him if he wasn't so distracted by Ino) and laughing silently to himself at the conversation he was overhearing.

"What was it?" Ino asked, and found herself unconsciously trotting over to Shikamaru's side.

They heard another rustle of movement, this time in the opposite direction. Then it went silent and still. Shikamaru instinctively stepped out in front of Ino.

_Stupid girls, _he thought to himself, knowing it would not only be dishonorable but also ungentlemanly to not automatically rise to protect a female. His mother had just worked too hard to instill some principles and morals in him.

Ino, although trying so hard at being tough and sure of herself, was still nothing but a six year old girl. She quickly moved behind her new friend and grabbed onto the back of his shirt, and he didn't say anything. Before she could catch herself though, Ino found herself whimpering quietly.

Shikamaru glanced back at her, and seeing her expression, decided they should end the game. "Hey Chouji!" he called out suddenly. "I think it's time we called it quits! This game is getting boring anyway," he said out loud. Ino looked grateful.

But he couldn't stand how funny this entire scenario could be, so they didn't notice until it was too late. As Chouji suddenly came plowing out from behind a tree, meters from his original hiding spot, and lunged to attack Ino.

And came straight into his best friend's chest, then immediately was restrained on the ground. But it took a few seconds for them all to understand what had happened – for Chouji whose face was so close to the ground he was almost eating dirt, for Ino who had been shoved out of the way and was currently sitting on her butt staring blankly, and for Shikamaru who was holding down his friend.

Chouji was the first to recover. "W-what?" he asked shakily. "Shikamaru, what're you doing to me! I'm not a real enemy!" the boy complained, wriggling in his grasp.

Ino blinked slowly. "What just..." Then blinked some more. "What happened?" came her confused little girl voice.

Shikamaru moved back, still on his knees. "Sorry about that," he responded to his best friend, then looked over to examine Ino. "You okay? I'm sorry I pushed you, but I was just trying to get you out of the way."

The other boy sat up and turned around to stare. "It was just a game! You didn't have to be so rough!" he complained again.

"Why did you...?" Ino left her question hanging, still disoriented.

Shikamaru shrugged as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. "A big brother is supposed to look out for his little sister, right?"

Ino and Chouji both let their mouths drop open in surprise. Then they looked at each other, trying to discern if this was some kind of joke.

They caught themselves as he offered both of them a hand to get off the ground. Back to his usual way, Shikamaru slid his hands into the pockets of his pants. He looked up at the sky dreamily, noticing the sun's position.

"Hey, sorry you guys but I think I'm gonna head home for lunch," he stated before turning around and leaving Ino and Chouji to stand around. "I'll see you guys later then!" he said with a small wave, looking Ino over once more before nodding to himself and leaving.

Ino stared blankly and felt her ears get warm. "Uh...thanks. Big brother," she added.

**xo end xo**

**Sorry **if the characters were a little strange, but I'd like to believe that people just don't start one way and grow up to be that exact same person. As children you're a bit (or sometimes a lot) different than the person you turn out to be.

Anyway, also sorry that there just wasn't enough fluff or alone time between little Ino and younger Shikamaru. I had planned on it but this is how it came out and I am pretty proud of myself.

This idea randomly came into my head yesterday and as soon as I got home from school today I decided to try it. Lucky it didn't take me more than one day to write. Apparently I'm on a roll, been writing quite a bit lately. Hopefully this streak will keep up.

And hey, I've been reading so much InoShikamaru lately that there are probably fifty stories and one-shots in my fav stories so maybe you'd wanna read something I put in there...I'm crazy.

11-10-06

11:32pm


End file.
